Letter: Military, Native Americans should share Mount Um

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As the iconic radar tower provides a backdrop, visitors take in the view after the opening ceremony for the new public space atop Mount Umunhum near San Jose, California, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017. The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, a public agency that owns the 3,486-foot peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains east of Los Gatos, spent $25 million over eight years on the project. (Patrick Tehan/Bay Area News Group)

I am concerned about Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s decision to provide the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band with a conservation easement on Mount Umunhum that includes the military FPS-24 radar tower. Fortunately, the tribe can resume on site efforts that further their history and outreach goals. However, why end future use and access to the tower as part of the tribal easement? After all, former Midpen general manager Steve Abbors said opening access to the mountain would let the public see and learn its “full arc” of history, which is Native American, natural and military. It would have been better to document the need for cooperation over physical access and the scheduling of future actions/events to avoid interference. When Midpen decided to lock out any future use or access to the radar tower, it was neither necessary nor fair for the public and military historians.